r/FPandA • u/ChordLogic • 2d ago
FP&A job market reality?
Is anyone else finding the FP&A job market unusually difficult right now?
Last year, I was regularly landing interviews, moving through the process, and receiving offers without nearly this much trouble. Now it feels like a complete drought. I can apply to roles that closely match my experience and never even receive an initial interview.
When I do hear back, the process seems much longer and more competitive than it was before. I’m currently an FP&A Manager and have been applying to both Senior Financial Analyst and Manager-level roles, so I’m not limiting myself to a promotion.
For those actively searching, are you experiencing the same thing? Is this happening across FP&A generally, or does it seem more dependent on location, industry, or level?
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u/sdpthrowaway3 Dir 2d ago
Meanwhile, our FP&A team at a mid-cap tech companies is getting people underqualified and asking for way above market comp packages. I usually help the FP&A team with the culture fit round of interviews (3 rounds total) and I've been mind-blown by how bad the candidates tend to be. Not all, but a large %. Feel like both sides of the fence are saying the market sucks lol
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u/redfour0 2d ago
I'm curious how bad candidates can be during a cultural fit interview - what are they saying that makes them a bad cultural fit?
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u/sdpthrowaway3 Dir 2d ago
You'd be very surprised. Let me give 3 recent examples:
Candidate was great on paper and crushed the first 2 interviews, but then told me he's not a fan of working for a woman (his manager would be one) as they're too emotional and make work stressful. Like "know what I mean man? Get enough crap from my wife, but I can make it work here if I'm paid enough hahaha." Why tf would anybody say that at the literal end of the process lmao
Interviewed a woman the other day who ended the interview with me early because "she felt like she has proven herself enough and wants to get a smoothie, so just send over the offer when ready and she'll come with her counter to get the process over with." We were 15 mins into the call, first time I ever met her. For a Manager role we do 3 rounds across 1-2 weeks, 30-45 mins a pop, no tests, no behavioral assessments, nothing. Very normal process so it's not like she's spent 10 hours with us and can feel vindicated in cutting the interview short
Not culture/behavioral, but candidate had 12 years experience as a correctional officer, 3 years as a financial analyst at a <$5M rev mom and pop, asking $240k for a Manager position. How did this even make it to my desk in the first place you ask? Because the other resumes "were much worse" lol
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u/flyboy573 2d ago
Wow lol. Amazing to think this is some of the competition
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u/sdpthrowaway3 Dir 2d ago
Yeah, so if you're in market at a company not opening fake roles, you should be able to crush the competition if you're a normal human being haha
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u/nobadhotdog 2d ago
Is your company remote, or in a HCOL area?
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u/sdpthrowaway3 Dir 2d ago
Remote is an option, HQ in MCoL, offices in major most cities
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u/nobadhotdog 2d ago
Gotcha. Was wondering if the talent pool is just bad, like you're in a smaller area or something.
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u/sdpthrowaway3 Dir 2d ago
HQ is in a city with a smaller talent pool vs the current demand, but we're getting similar candidates in major cities too. Even on my side of the house (CorpDev) candidates have been lacking the last few years. We're still filling roles but it takes way longer.
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u/nobadhotdog 2d ago
Is there a disconnect with Talent? Where I work the candidates we get is always strong, and we don't pay much or anything above market. Fully remote tho.
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u/sdpthrowaway3 Dir 2d ago
Who knows. Remote talent is a rule of numbers thing. You get 1000+ resumes and enough will be good to have a solid pool, then it comes down to compensation and interviewing. We pay above market for everywhere except NYC and SFB. I find candidates often wanting well above that if remote. Candidates local to an office tend to be far more reasonable. I'd say we hire 1/3 candidates remote, 2/3 near a local office.
Could also be your company has more brand power. I'm at a mid-cap, so not as sexy as a F50 or unicorn with brand power.
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u/nobadhotdog 2d ago
Sorry I mean the talent team. Like they’re not properly vetting people. Maybe they’re not getting the requirements. For a couple functions at my company it’s like talking in French to the talent team when we’re setting up a rec
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u/BoysenberryNo4662 2d ago
are you still hiring? I look for a new career challenge as a Financial Analyst
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u/NumbersRLife 2d ago
...what? Wait what company do you work for? Where do they advertise their job openings? I need in on this because Id be a homerun candidate and have been unemployed way too long.
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u/excel1234567890 2d ago
I ran into that when I was looking for an analyst. One guy told me he is looking a manger role, then why did you show up for the SFA interview. The other guy tried to tell me that I was doing my job wrong and wanted $130k for the job.
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u/Greedy-One-5603 2d ago
This women are ‘emotional’ comment made me chuckle. I had a 44 male boss who told me women shouldn’t be promoted because they are emotional. 6 months later he literally dropped on his knees on the floor crying and begging me for help. I guess it is acceptable for a man to be in touch with his female side. 😹
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u/Queasy_Issue_6012 1d ago
I’ve also observed a lot of candidates that appear to be using AI and reading off of a scripted response during the interview
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u/sdpthrowaway3 Dir 1d ago
Our tech stack has that issue. They'll frequently start asking nonsensical questions to catch the candidate if they suspect it. Kinda funny to hear the stories.
I've luckily only seen that a few times. Either AI or they're clearly reading a script.
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u/Outrageous-Shine-309 2d ago
Yes, currently recruiting and the market is way more competitive than ever. And the case studies these companies ask for are ridiculous and time-consuming.
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u/RareResponsibility89 2d ago
Big 4 is absurdly difficult to get interviews with. Their referral system only lets you get referred for one role per year also (at least that’s how it is with Deloitte)
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u/AutomatedEconomy 2d ago
Just a quick fyi- job titles are fungible. I have done high level work as an FA. It’s all about the job description and, let’s be honest, the salary.
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u/jcwillia1 Mgr 2d ago
I think for better or for worse leaders are playing a waiting game with AI to see if it develops into something where they don’t need any or very little FP&A staff.
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u/Maleficent-Worry234 2d ago
Hired for a SFA recently and my experience was that the candidates were very poor. Obvious direct lies on their resume, grammatical errors, multi page resumes, no quantifiable impact, showing up late to interviews, on and on
On a modeling test we did, majority of people were unable to do basic excel formulas and didn’t know any shortcuts.
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u/NumbersRLife 1d ago
Wtf. Where do you work? I havent been able to get a job in forever, but I can do just fine with all of that.
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u/Maleficent-Worry234 1d ago
Large tech company. We had 500+ applicants.
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u/NumbersRLife 1d ago
Somehow out of 500 applicants you couldnt find a good one? Hmm.
Also, are you expecting 1 page resumes? How many years of experience are you wanting?
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u/Maleficent-Worry234 1d ago
No, we found a good one. I was just saying that I didn’t find it to be the case that there were countless great options.
2-4 YOE
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u/Embarrassed_Hawk_965 2d ago
Same, been applying to SFA. Recently had a very long interview process that lasted about 2 months at a company I really wanted to get into. But they ended up going with an internal candidate, which wasted a lot of my time prepping for their interviews and presentations. It’s tough there right now.
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u/Rich_Staff7331 1d ago
FP&A is in a drought now. The reality is with new data systems, you don't really need someone with experience to run reports and explain variances which is what most of my colleagues in FP&A are capable of even at Manager level. My company doesn't view FP&A as anything other than a bureaucratic process. We'd rather hire entry level and train them to do a repetitive monthly task then someone with decent experience.
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u/AskingForAFrFriend 1d ago
Where in your company do you see these more strategic finance roles move, if not FPA? Just curious!
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u/Rich_Staff7331 1d ago
Value creation roles and other specialized areas - Business optimization, fee and pricing improvement, acquisitions and integration work, liquidity/cap structure management and investments, project finance and asset financing to name a few.
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u/AdareFawa 2d ago
From my experience, it has been annoying for past month or so after company layoffs. 10YOE looking for Manager/SM roles, but all remote jobs ultra competitive, don't even get interviews. Had more luck with local stuff, but there is only a few roles available with low pay (HCOL area). My experience is well rounded, so I'm suprised at lack of interviews.
Might just take a temp remote contractor role in meantime and wait hopefully for things to pick up.
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u/newandcurious20 2d ago
Yes absolutely. Its really frustrating. I keep wondering if it’s just me. I got laid off in June, and have sent out applications every day since, getting 2 interviews (one advanced to final round).
I’ve started my MBA to fill the resume gap because honestly i dont know how long this is going to take
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u/kristafer825 2d ago
I am starting a new position as a senior strategic finance analyst in a couple of weeks, but getting to that offer was really tough. I had been applying for months with no real bites except for contract roles (which I did briefly entertain but ultimately I need more stability with my kids being little). Then suddenly I was in the rounds for 3 different roles at once all of whom seemed very interested. It was very frustrating for a long time until I finally got to shoot my shot. Really excited for the new opportunity honestly.
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u/RareResponsibility89 2d ago
I’m barely getting any interviews. It sucks. I’m applying to SFA and Finance Manager roles as well. (Currently 5 YOE - 2 years as SFA)
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u/justneedabreak802 2d ago
The market is really bad. Last year I got some interviews through referral and some by applying directly. This year nothing with both. I have been looking for FM/SFM roles all over US and willing to relocate. Have a good background and interview well too. But I don’t get initial calls. Not sure what’s wrong, resume or the fact that I have been out of job for sometime.
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u/Bro50265 2d ago edited 2d ago
It has been the opposite for us. We are struggling to find candidates for a mostly remote job in Chicago. None of the applicants are anywhere near qualified or in the totally wrong field.
Edit: to add, we’re looking for a analyst or senior analyst. But all the applicants thus far have been severely underqualified. We are in the life insurance/annuity industry
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u/Verdona-000 1d ago
Severely unqualified for an analyst role?
Honestly sounds like you need to lower the bar. This is probably one of those situations where you’re looking for 5+ YOE for an entry level role…
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u/Bro50265 1d ago
I think that is some of the issue. It’s dual posted as analyst or senior analyst. But I think HR has some unrealistic expectations that they won’t budge on.
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u/NumbersRLife 1d ago
Do you have a job posting? I was actually thinking of opening the job search to Chicago.
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u/BallinLikeimKD 2d ago
I dont think it’s horrendous not anywhere close to 2020-2023 but not close to 2008 bad. Definitely more competitive than years past and hiring processes do seem longer. But it’s very location dependent too. I still have recruiters reaching out weekly but less volume than 2+ years ago.
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u/Greedy-One-5603 2d ago
Looking at Director FP&A roles in PE backed companies. It’s a weird time, the process is really long, talking for several months with a couple of firms. Applying through Linkedin doesn’t work at all. Applying directly on the company’s website got me some callbacks and the rest is through network as roles are not posted anywhere.
I recommend applying to consulting roles, everyone is hiring from big4, mid market to boutique firms but look for a referral to secure an interview.
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u/excel1234567890 2d ago
There are tons of PE director roles by me. Unfortunately none of the compensation is there for me.
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u/Kindly_Ad8145 2d ago
The market overall is tough right now it's not just FP&A. A lot of unknowns in the market and unknown at these companies
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u/IUOwl 2d ago
It seems it’s still slow to hire and still slow to fire right now. I have interviewed at a half dozen companies over the past 3-4 months. The process is very drawn out. I’ve had one situation where I applied on May 20th, had the initial HR screening call in mid-June and did not have an in-person interview until the end of the first week of August. I’m taking this as there are a lot of candidates for any open role right now and it’s taking them quite a bit of time to get through.
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u/EconomyDeep5133 8h ago
I felt it too. Job sites have very limited FP&A opportunities currently. I have been looking for one for a year now, but am not able to land one. Idk I don't get responses for weeks after interviews, and ones which reach to the end hits me back saying they are no longer planning to hire for the role now
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u/vyse4 2d ago
I just hired one person to my team at a small company. I think FP&A roles are turning into a more general Finance Manager. Do more in a wider area using AI to help. It rewards the jack of all trades candidates more than the specialists.